Who will have the last laugh in Chennai?
Chennai constituencies are considered DMK bastions. But judging from the results of the last assembly election, it appears the DMK's grip may no longer be intact.

Tiruvallur will make them pay the price
Underdeveloped and sleepy, the constituency is crying for attention -- and development. Once home to palmy farmlands, it is tough to spot a tinge of green now.

Corporate guru steps into politics
K Pandia Rajan, the founder of Ma Foi Management Consultants, has joined the MDMK and is contesting the Lok Sabha polls against firebrand politician Vaiko.

India's southern-most constituency
What Kanyakumari clearly needs is more industries to employ its highly literate workforce. With more industries and more work the locals may stop thinking of themselves as Hindus, Christians and Nadars.

Chidambaram feels Tamil heat
The Sri Lankan turmoil has shaken the Congress-Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam alliance in Tamil Nadu. Nowhere has the issue flared up as much as it has in Sivaganga, Home Minister P Chidambaram's constituency.

Don't dismiss Laloo just yet
While it is true that the overall situation worsened and the state got deeper into the quagmire of backwardness during the RJD regime, yet the party bags many credits for bringing about a fundamental change in Bihar's society and politics as well.

Bengal poll results will sink or save Left Front
Clearly, there are few states as important as West Bengal with 42 seats, and the all-important question in Kidderpore on Saturday and all other nights in the run-up to May 16 is, will the fabled party machinery of the Left Front hold its 35 seats?

Do the parties care about Punjab's farmers?
At the start of the election process in Punjab it was expected that the farmers's suicides and the problems they faced would be a major issue during the campaign. However, few leaders have spoken strongly about this issue.

The day Rahul moved centre-stage
'The day Modi wriggles out of the shadows of the Gujarat riots, the real battle with Rahul Gandhi will be joined. Till then, Rahul is taking a five-star excursion into the hurly-burly of Indian politics.'

In Shimoga, a CM's son faces a former CM
The contest between B Y Raghavendra, son of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, and former chief minister S Bangarappa of the Congress in Shimoga parliamentary constituency is touted as the most interesting battle in the state

Secret of Shivraj Singh Chauhan's success
The timing and intent of his schemes are not the only parameters that set the low-profile Chauhan apart. The real genius of his idea lay in the common motif of his schemes: women.

'We are creating two Indias'
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The top-most priority for any government must be to bridge that gap, says Congress MP Sachin Pilot in frank conversation.

Meet the raja of Ayodhya
Bimlendra Pratap Mohan Misra is the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate from Faizabad, Ayodhya's twin city. His forefathers have ruled Ayodhya from Raj Sadan, the palace where he lives.

Maharaj does the hard miles
You wonder what has suddenly happened to Udayanraje Bhosale, the 13th descendant of Shivaji Maharaj, as he springs up from his bed, lifts his legs and shows his frayed soles.

The battle for Bangalore South
Bangalore South is undoubtedly the most high-profile constituency in the state. It has been a BJP bastion for the past four terms.

Young SP promises smooth voting
Akun Sabharwal, the SP of rural Vishakapattinam, is young, dynamic and ready to take every possible step to ensure free and smooth voting.

Political ploys in the heart of UP
In Rohillkhand, people have survived the centuries with canny grace. If 1947 was an aberration that twisted the life-blood out of history, the mix-and-match heartiness of the 2009 election immeasurably reinforces the region's diversity.

Mission for a mandate
It is hard to believe that barely two months ago Manmohan Singh was having quintuple heart bypass surgery. The prime minister appears robust, as he pursues a punishing schedule that involves taking time out from campaigning in elections to flying to London for the G-20 summit.

Poorer the state, the richer the neta
One way of rationalising this is to say that political leaders have always belonged to the aristocracy -- one look at the education levels of our MPs/MLAs, however, makes it clear this is not the case here.

The Indian voter has become more demanding
Their expectation levels have risen. It is not just the basic necessities (roti, kapda and makaan) that matter to them. Equally important are the basic infrastructure services (bijli, paani and sadak) that a political party should promise to offer if elected to form the government..

So when does your constituency vote?
Hidden in the fine print of the information dished out by the Election Commission of India is the fact that the 2009 general elections is not a 5-phase one as is generally reported but a 6-phase one.

Parties jostle for election allies and issues
The Congress party is displaying a studied confidence that people will appreciate its rule of the past five years. It is projecting a more coherent image than its nearest rival -- the BJP -- but this could very well be a contrived posturing by way of creating an air of confidence limited to New Delhi..